Nov. 8--Winter typically brings a chill in the Cape's real estate numbers, but there are signs of stability in that moribund sector.

And more help is on the way.

The latest report from the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds showed that the number of properties sold in October rose more than 4 percent in comparison to the same month in 2008. That marks the first time in 12 months that sales volume increased year over year.

While one month doesn't make a trend, the summer saw smaller gaps in the volume of sales compared with 2008.

The $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers certainly played a role. Lynette Helms, president of the Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors, cautioned that sales may have been compressed as buyers hurried to close deals before the credit's deadline at the end of this month.

An expansion of the tax-credit program was signed by President Obama on Friday, so that incentive is set to remain in place for the coming months. The version passed by Congress retains the $8,000 first-time credit and gives a $6,500 credit to buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years.

That should provide a decent boost to the market.

Meanwhile, there are other encouraging local signs to build on. The median price reached $300,000 -- only the second time this year that the median has risen out of the high $200,000 range. Preliminary numbers from the Cape and Islands Realtors showed median October prices running almost level with last year.

Pending sales in October jumped more than 12 percent from the year before, the Realtors group's preliminary numbers show.

Congress' action last week helps provide the right climate for those numbers to show continued growth.

"With the right mix of tax breaks and investments we will get through this recession," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said last week.

For Cape Cod, expanding the tax-credit program is just the right mix. For real estate agents and home sellers who may have been looking beyond November with dread, the news comes at just the right time.

As money and commissions from home sales help thaw the Cape's economy, we all gain from the program's expansion -- and we just might get through this recession that much sooner.

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